First Cold of the School Year

[GhostLily342]

As many of us know, the start of any school year/semester would be incomplete without any inaugural cold of some sort. In accordance with this pattern, I've picked up a head cold of my very own. Corralling a bunch of teenagers every day is tough enough, and doing so with an unruly nose is hardly a good time.

Honestly, compared to other colds I've endured, this one isn't so bad. Our rainy season has just started, which has sent the mold counts in the air through the roof. As a result, the transition between my mold allergies and this cold felt rather seamless.

I had been dealing with a stuffy nose and bouts of sneezing due to the mold for several days, and one of the few reasons why I even realized that I eventually had a cold was because my nose continued to run after staying indoors and taking anti-histamines.

Luckily for me, the sneezing has been more frequent with this cold than with others I've had in the past. The only drawback to this is the fact that with my cold sneezes, the build-ups are much longer and thus, torturous.

The pattern tends to go something like this: I feel a sneeze coming on very dully at first, which leaves me plenty of time to grab a few Kleenex from the box on my desk and prepare for it. There I sit, holding the tissues a few inches from my face, while this urge to sneeze ebbs and flows in its intensity. Ohh, here comes a sneeze...no, wait, maybe not...yes! This is it!...Nope...I often have to stare at a bright light source very intently in order to finally coax the sneeze out. Several times even this technique has been ineffective, which leaves me with little to do but blow my runny nose and wait for the tickle to return (in about 30 seconds...).

My shyness about sneezing and blowing my nose in front of people still applies amidst all of this. A few times this week I've given my students something to read or a worksheet of some kind to fill out in order to give me a few minutes to run to the bathroom and blow my nose.

Since today is Saturday, I decided to go to school and attempt to get some papers graded. This was actually really nice. On the way to school I stopped off for some snacks, movies, and a box of lotion-treated tissues. With my door locked and no one around to bother me, I spent the afternoon getting some work done while sneezing and blowing to my heart's content.

Let's just hope that this cold is gone by Monday...

[lovelylovexoxo]

Aww bless you hope you feel better

[hankyhonk]

Great self obs, hope you get better soon. I can be shy about blowing my nose around people I know mainly because I have to blow my nose loud and honking for it to do any good. I wondered if part of your problem is that you're a loud blower too.

[obsessed]

Feel better soon, thanks for sharing!

[Dusty15]

My goodness...to be a fly on the wall of your classroom! A sneezy teacher is a lovely image! I do hope you feel better soon, though <3

[buildup_lover]

Bless you. I would have loved to have you as a teacher. I hope you're better by Monday. I can definitely relate to your shyness about sneezing and blowing your nose in front of people. It makes it unbearable to be sick around people.

[norcal tinkfan]

Hope you feel better!

[sexyhankysneeze]

you should try using a handkerchief, they last longer and are softer on your nose